Cancer Therapeutics and Drug Safety

In the Cancer Therapeutics and Drug Safety research group, headed by Bob Van de Water, cell signaling programs that underlie adverse drug reactions as well as cancer development and progression are unraveled. Adverse drug reactions involve cell injury in critical target organ cells which leads to the activation of cellular stress response signaling pathways. We study the molecular mechanisms of cellular stress response activation and control of cell survival and cell death. In the context of cancer, we investigate the signaling networks that underlie breast cancer drug resistance and metastasis formation. The application of functional genomics and high throughput microscopy to uncover the dynamics of the signaling networks is central in both research programs.